Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School is a large, diverse Catholic secondary school in Coventry and part of The Romero Catholic Academy trust. Inspected in April 2026, it is judged to be performing at the expected standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. Leaders have worked effectively over three years to improve achievement, and pupils' Year 11 attainment is now broadly in line with national averages. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities also achieve well and in line with their peers, and pupils are generally well prepared for ambitious next steps. Notable strengths include improved attendance, calm and orderly behaviour, effective inclusion work, a clear leadership vision, strong trust and governance support, and a comprehensive personal development programme. Pupils feel safe, are respectful, and benefit from a wide range of enrichment and careers opportunities. However, the quality of curriculum and teaching is too variable. In too many subjects, teachers do not check pupils' understanding well enough to address gaps or misconceptions, and agreed adaptations for pupils with SEND or those at early stages of learning English are not consistently applied. The sixth form also needs attention. A-level achievement has been significantly below the national average over time, and some students are not as well prepared for their next steps as they should be. Leaders are tackling these weaknesses directly, and recent post-16 improvements are beginning to have a positive impact, but they have not yet had the same effect as improvements elsewhere.

Strengths

• Leaders have improved pupils' achievement so Year 11 attainment is broadly in line with national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND achieve well and in line with their peers.
• Pupils are generally well prepared for ambitious next steps and destinations.
• Attendance has improved noticeably and is now very close to the national average.
• Persistent absence is close to the national average.
• Pupils conduct themselves well; classrooms are calm and social times are respectful and polite.
• Pupils celebrate difference and understand that bullying and discrimination are not tolerated.
• Leaders effectively identify and meet the needs of pupils with barriers to learning, including SEND and EAL.
• Leaders have a clear vision aligned to the school's values and have secured tangible improvements.
• The trust and governance provide effective support and challenge to leaders.
• Staff speak highly of how leaders engage with them about workload and professional development.
• Personal development is comprehensive, including PSHE, careers education, enrichment and work experience.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Pupils feel safe, supported and proud to belong to an inclusive community.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of curriculum and teaching across subjects is too variable.
• Teachers' checks on pupils' understanding are inconsistent and do not always address misconceptions or gaps effectively.
• Teachers do not consistently move pupils on to more complex tasks to deepen learning.
• Agreed adaptations for pupils with barriers to learning, including SEND and EAL, are not implemented systematically.
• Some pupils with barriers continue to face challenges in learning the curriculum as leaders intend.
• In a few subjects, curriculum redesign is still underway and key knowledge is not yet clearly sequenced.
• A-level achievement in the sixth form has been significantly below the national average over time.
• Curriculum implementation varies across A-level subjects, and students' misconceptions or gaps are not always identified.
• Some sixth-form students are not as prepared for their next steps as they should be.
• Strategic changes to improve sixth-form provision and teaching consistency have yet to have the same impact as other improvements.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School attended 89.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 7.8% of pupils at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School had 17.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 16.8% of pupils at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School received £8,411 and spent £8,194 for each of its 1,441 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £682,000 (£473 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Romero Catholic Academy, income was £7,461 and spending £7,446 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Coventry · Coventry local authority: places and applications

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School is part of The Romero Catholic Academy, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Coventry
• SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School Coventry
• St John Fisher Catholic Primary School Coventry
• Good Shepherd Catholic School Coventry
• St Gregory's Catholic Primary School Coventry
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Coventry
• Corpus Christi Catholic School Coventry

What is Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School have?

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School has 1,406 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School cover?

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 40.7, and 40% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School?

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School is at Potters Green Road, Coventry, West Midlands, CV2 2AJ.